A tenant is suing the owners of an apartment complex, claiming he suffered serious injuries when he fell from a second floor balcony.

Sean and Bambi McCluskey filed suit against Belle Oak Properties doing business as Belle Oak Apartments and April G. Battaglia in June in Orleans Parish District Court.

Sean McCluskey says he was leaning against the second floor metal railing when it suddenly - and without warning - gave way, causing him to fall onto the parking lot below.

McCluskey accuses the apartment complex and its employees of knowing of the second-floor handrail in the common area was rusty.

The defendants are accused of negligent and strict liability for failing to properly and adequately maintain and repair that metal railing, failing to warn of the hazards and defects in the existing railing, failing to mark, highlight or otherwise call attention to the defects and hazards, and failing to properly inspect the railing to discover those defects rendering them unreasonably dangerous in normal use.